THIS WEEKEND Audiences
yawned at Hollywood's offerings and avoided North American multiplexes
driving the box office to the worst Labor Day weekend performance in 15
years. The Top 20 films sold just $103M worth of tickets over the long
Friday-to-Monday holiday frame. Though typically a slow summer-ending weekend,
the Labor Day frame is usually good for $120-140M for the Top 20 over
four days. No film managed to break double digit millions this weekend
over the standard three-day span.

Holdovers led as the low-budget faith-based hit War
Room rose from second to first place thanks in part to a 34%
boost in screens. The Sony title grossed an estimated $12.6M over four
days and raised its total to $27.9M. Thanks to no work or school on Monday,
and a loyal churchgoing audience, Sunday grosses rose higher than Saturday's.
It only cost $3.5M to produce but may reach near $50M by the end of its
run.

After three weeks at number one, Straight Outta
Compton slipped down to the runner-up spot for the four-day
holiday session. The Universal sensation is still playing well with an
estimated $11.2M for the holiday weekend. The cume rose to $150.2M - something
nobody expected at the start of the summer movie season.

The Robert Redford-Nick Nolte outdoors film A
Walk in the Woods debuted to solid results in third place exceeding
expectations. The Broad Green release bowed to an estimated $10.5M over
four days for a $5,357 average and has grossed $12.6M since its Wednesday
launch. Rated R, Woods earned mixed
reviews and a B CinemaScore grade.

One of the year's most popular action films Mission:
Impossible - Rogue Nation followed in fourth with an estimated
$9.3M for a robust $182.5M to date. The Paramount hit joined Jurassic
World as the only movies this summer to spend six weekends in
the top five. The global cume crossed the half-billion mark with $513M
and China opens this Tuesday which is sure to send the total well past
$600M this month.

Actions fans did not feel the need to come out for The
Transporter Refueled which opened very wide with 3,434 locations
but debuted to just $9M over four days, according to estimates, for a poor
$2,621 average. The EuropaCorp release saw bad reviews and the lack of
Jason Statham - who anchored the first three films in the franchise - certainly
diluted interest. Studios have long relied on young males to power them
at the box office, especially in the summertime. But among the two new
wide releases, the older-skewing Woods
opened better despite having almost half the screens. Demos for Transporter
were 60% male and 60% between ages 18 and 34 and international markets
are where this one will see the bulk of its revenue potential.

The Weinstein Co. saw its Owen Wilson film No
Escape drop to an estimated $7M pushing the modest sum to $20M.
Disney and Pixar were next with the expanding Inside
Out which jumped back into the top ten with an estimated $4.5M
pushing the cume to $349.6M domestic and $736M worldwide with China, Germany,
and Italy yet to open. The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
grossed an estimated $4.4M and has banked $40.4M for Warner Bros.

Lionsgate scored big with Latino family audiences as its new animated
rooster comedy Un Gallo con Muchos Huevos
debuted to strong numbers grossing an estimated $4.4M from only 395 locations
for a terrific $11,190 four-day average. The PG-13 toon was slotted into
this school holiday frame and connected with its target audience. Falling
to tenth place was the horror sequel Sinister
2 with an estimated $4.3M and $24.6M overall for Focus.

The top ten films grossed an estimated $77.3M over the Friday-to-Monday
holiday weekend which was down 28% from last year's Labor Day when Guardians
of the Galaxy held number one with $22.9M; and down 30% from
2013's holiday when The Butler stayed
in the top spot with $20.2M.

Compared to four-day projections, A Walk in
the Woods powered ahead of my $6M forecast while The
Transporter Refueled was on target with my $9M prediction.

Get earlier box office updates and analysis by following BoxOfficeGuru.com
on Twitter.

Be sure to check back on Tuesday for final studio figures and
again on Thursday for a complete summary,
including projections, for next weekend when The
Perfect Guy, 90 Minutes in Heaven,
and The Visit all open.

#

Title

Sep 4 - 7

Aug 28 - 30

% Chg.

Theaters

Weeks

AVG

Cumulative

Distributor

Sep 4 - 6

1

War Room

$ 12,550,000

$ 11,351,389

10.6

1,526

2

$ 8,224

$ 27,860,000

Sony

$ 9,450,000

2

Straight Outta
Compton

11,230,000

13,133,560

-14.5

3,094

4

3,630

150,170,000

Universal

8,850,000

3

A Walk in the
Woods

10,500,000

1,960

1

5,357

12,600,000

Broad
Green

8,200,000

4

Mission: Impossible
- RN

9,300,000

8,155,581

14.0

2,849

6

3,264

182,537,000

Paramount

7,180,000

5

The Transporter
Refueled

9,000,000

3,434

1

2,621

9,000,000

EuropaCorp

7,220,000

6

No Escape

7,032,000

8,111,264

-13.3

3,415

2

2,059

20,033,000

Weinstein
Co.

5,448,000

7

Inside Out

4,544,000

1,349,972

236.6

2,967

12

1,532

349,617,000

Disney

3,226,000

8

The Man From
U.N.C.L.E.

4,445,000

4,431,136

0.3

2,102

4

2,115

40,379,000

Warner
Bros.

3,445,000

9

Un Gallo con
Muchos Huevos

4,420,000

395

1

11,190

4,420,000

Lionsgate

3,421,000

10

Sinister 2

4,252,000

4,665,341

-8.9

2,651

3

1,604

24,592,000

Focus

3,432,000

Top
5

$ 52,580,000

$ 45,417,135

15.8

Top
10

77,273,000

63,160,916

22.3

Top
10 vs. Labor Day 2014

77,273,000

107,180,238

-27.9

Top
10 vs. Labor Day 2013

77,273,000

110,020,537

-29.8

Below
the Top 10:

Ant-Man

3,779,000

3,073,116

23.0

1,527

8

2,475

174,082,000

Disney

2,872,000

Minions

3,730,000

2,875,080

29.7

1,927

9

1,936

329,600,000

Universal

2,720,000

Jurassic World

3,490,000

3,010,770

15.9

1,571

13

2,222

647,530,000

Universal

2,600,000

The Gift

3,434,000

3,004,313

14.3

1,591

5

2,158

40,452,000

STX

2,648,000

Hitman: Agent
47

2,800,000

4,224,446

-33.7

2,191

3

1,278

20,349,000

Fox

2,185,000

Trainwreck

1,830,000

1,670,350

9.6

808

8

2,265

107,510,000

Universal

1,450,000

American Ultra

1,625,000

2,851,916

-43.0

1,729

3

940

13,454,000

Lionsgate

1,265,000

Vacation

1,450,000

1,628,162

-10.9

1,045

6

1,388

56,957,000

Warner
Bros.

1,150,000

Fantastic Four

1,400,000

1,782,398

-21.5

1,135

5

1,233

54,721,000

Fox

1,100,000

Southpaw

1,300,000

877,875

48.1

1,444

7

900

51,319,000

Weinstein
Co.

1,001,000

Shaun the Sheep

1,250,000

1,092,821

14.4

1,134

5

1,102

18,040,000

Lionsgate

894,000

We Are Your
Friends

811,000

1,767,308

-54.1

2,333

2

348

3,331,000

Warner
Bros.

636,000

This column is updated three times each week:
Thursday
(upcoming weekend's summary), Sunday
(post-weekend analysis with estimates), and Monday
night (actuals). Opinions expressed in this column are those solely of
the author.